


You're Too Important To Me

by Bug_jpeg



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Secret Santa, Theres some angst but it's barely there, references to violence, winter cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 13:26:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17142578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bug_jpeg/pseuds/Bug_jpeg
Summary: [Alternatively Titled: Akira Is A Huge Nag]After Ryuji jumps in front of a shadow to save Akira, the leader of the Phantom Thieves has to remind Ryuji how important he is.





	You're Too Important To Me

**Author's Note:**

> A Secret Santa gift for Mossy! I ended up combining two prompts together since they fit together so well, so I hope you enjoy! Happy Holidays! <3
> 
> Prompts: Winter cuddles, scolding the other for taking a hit for them

Akira has never been the type to “nag”, but  _ damn _ he just might have to start now.

It was supposed to be a quick trip to Mementos. The team was only down there to complete one request and  _ maybe  _ get some extra treasure along the way. None of them had prepared for such a difficult fight.

The shadow hardly budged despite all the attacks thrown its way, and it seemed like it didn’t have any weaknesses that could be exploited. Futaba provided assistance where she could, with Makoto and Morgana forced to take a heavy healing stance. Akira cycled through his Personas, trying every move and strategy he could think of, but he was exhausted, and exhaustion led to sloppiness. The whole team was feeling the beating, and Akira was fresh out of items to boost their stamina. He had to take the lead and command his team, and protect them until this fight was over. Physical attacks would have to be their focus for now, at least until he could get some energy back.

He ordered Makoto and Morgana to amp up the healing and quickly scanned his eyes over the rest of his team. Yusuke was running just as low as he was and Haru was hanging back with Ann, trying to support the model on her sprained ankle. That left two whole teammates out of commission for a while, at least until Haru could get Ann to a safer place and rejoin the Phantom Thieves. Akira turned his gaze towards Ryuji, and for a moment it seemed like the rest of the Metaverse crumbled around them. It was only brief, but seeing Ryuji putting everything into his attacks gave Akira the strength to keep fighting.

Akira gaped at Ryuji much longer than he should have in the heat of battle, and it distracted him from an incoming shadow ambush. As he was calling out for Ryuji to take charge of their defenses, he felt a sharp pain in his back and collapsed to the ground. His vision blurred and he felt the scrape of the floor against his face. His tongue tasted metal and he thought for sure this fight was over.

Once his bearings returned, Akira quickly propped himself up on his elbows and rolled over on the ground to face his assailant. Instead of being met with the menacing gaze of a shadow, he saw Ryuji sprinting towards the shadow as fast as he could. Ryuji raised his pipe with everything he had and took a swing at the shadow, but he barely made a dent. Akira felt his heart rate increase as his minor wounds began to slowly close. Makoto was able to give him a little bit of his strength back, enough for Akira to stumble to his feet and follow Ryuji headfirst into battle.    


This continued for what felt like hours. Akira and Ryuji began to find a sync with one another, each baton pass increasing their morale just a little bit. Eventually, the shadow was down to his final stretch, and his attacks became even more persistent. Ryuji seemed to have the perfect defensive counters against the shadow, and Akira could feel his heart swell at Ryuji’s bravery. Even so, Akira began feeling the effects of his depleted stamina, and he wasn’t sure if he could hold off the shadow much longer. He saw the attack coming and he knew it would finish him off for sure, but he couldn’t find the muscle to swing his arm no matter how badly he wanted to. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact he was sure would knock him out for good.

Rather feeling the impact from the shadow, Akira instead heard a loud, pained cry of agony. His eyes opened and he saw Ryuji lying on the ground in front of him. Akira could see him visibly shaking from taking the hit, and he looked like he was about to pass out. He felt anger bubbling up in his chest, and as soon as Makoto had healed him one last time to the best of her ability, he summoned his Persona and used the last of his stamina to obliterate the shadow completely. He fell to his knees with a sigh, his legs unable to support his own weight any longer and giving out beneath him. He reached for Ryuji, who was lying on the ground and clutching his stomach in agony, his fingers barely touching Ryuji’s head and rummaging through his hair. He shuffled on his knees to clutch Ryuji, hoisting him up and holding Ryuji in his lap.

“Hey man…” Ryuji managed to cough out, his deep brown eyes barely open but still managing to look into Akira’s steely grey ones. “Glad to see you’re alive.”

“Thanks to you,” Akira shook his head in disbelief. “Idiot. You could have gotten yourself killed.”

“S’fine…” He mumbled. His head fell on Akira’s shoulder and he buried his face in the crook of Akira’s neck, ignoring the large collar of the jacket. “Let’s just get out of here.”

 

~*~

 

After a quick trip to Takemi, Akira returned back to his room in the cafe attic where Ryuji was taking a nap on his bed. There was a heater pointed directly at the bed to keep out the winter chill breezing through the window. Looks like Akira had forgotten to close the window before he left. The icy wind was biting, but nothing Akira wasn’t used to dealing with. Luckily, Ryuji didn’t seem to mind, curled up underneath the warmest blanket he had. His breathing was steady, a welcome change from the ragged breathing from before. It had pained him to leave Ryuji alone to get supplies, but restocking couldn’t wait and Morgana had offered to keep watch.

His thoughts wandered back to Mementos and he couldn’t stop the shiver that overtook him. It wasn’t from the winter air, but rather the thought of Ryuji recklessly putting his life at risk for the sake of saving him. It was supposed to be  _ Akira’s _ job to protect his teammates. That’s what a leader was supposed to do. If he couldn’t protect his own teammates and himself, then what kind of leader was he? Ryuji was always a welcome distraction, but Akira chastised himself for allowing himself to drift away from the task at hand. All of his teammates were important to him, but  _ Ryuji  _ was his entire world. Losing him would destroy Akira, and he wasn’t sure if that was a loss he could come back from. He couldn’t afford to get distracted like that. Not again.

Akira set the bag of medicine he’d just purchased on his work desk and began quietly rummaging through it when he heard Ryuji stirring, likely waking up from his brief nap. He’d been out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow, and Akira could feel the ghost of sleep beginning to weigh on him from just thinking about it. “Good to hear you awake.” Akira smiled to himself, his voice holding its usual warmth, but kept at his task of finding the supplies he needed in his bag.

Ryuji groaned as he rolled over, body sore from the beating he’d endured a few hours earlier. His eyes were still bleary from sleep. “Mmm...how long was I out?” His words lazily strung themselves together, and Akira couldn’t help but muse over how adorable he sounded.

“A couple hours.” He pulled out some Icy Hot and brought it over to his bed. Ryuji had begun to sit up and grunted softly with the effort as Akira took a seat next to him. He took the pads out of the box and motioned for Ryuji to remove his shirt. Ryuji’s face flushed, but he managed to take it off slowly. It was difficult to focus on the task at hand when Ryuji’s bare torso was just  _ sitting right there,  _ so Akira had to find something else to focus on before he spontaneously combusted. He would never be able to focus in Mementos at this rate. As Akira tended to Ryuji’s typical post-Mementos soreness, he noticed the myriad of scars that decorated Ryuji’s torso seemingly grew in number overnight. Akira assumed the fresh indents were from their recent trip when Ryuji had  _ stupidly  _ taken a hit that he shouldn’t have. The memory continued to eat away at his conscience, but he couldn’t quite find the words to tell Ryuji how he felt. He didn’t want to nag Ryuji for doing something brave. Once the last patch was on, Akira cleared his throat. It was now or never. “Ryuji, Iー”

“If you’re gonna scold me,” Ryuji chuckled softly. “Don’t bother. I already got quite the verbal beating from the girls. Even Yusuke seemed to side with them.”

“What you did was reckless.” Akira pressed gently. “Everyone knows that, and I know you do too.”

“Yeah, I do  _ now. _ ” He looked down at his hands, wringing them together in nervous motions. “I wasn’t really thinkin’ about that stuff in the moment.”

Akira cautiously placed his hand on Ryuji’s shoulder, careful not to make his soreness any worse. Ryuji’s skin was soft and warm against Akira’s cold hand. “You never think in the moment.” He smiled. “You just  _ do  _ things without thinking and it puts you in danger.”  _ It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you.  _ Akira thought, but those words didn’t come. Ryuji looked up and locked eyes with Akira. “I know we’ve had this conversation before, and I conceded to let you risk your life for the sake of the team, but not for me.  _ Never  _ for me.”

Ryuji shook his head. “What’s the point of trying to save the team if I can’t save you?” He placed his hand on Akira’s. “You spread yourself so thin tryin’ to protect us all, but you need someone to watch your back too. Just ‘cause you’re the leader doesn’t mean you’re invincible.”

“What if something happens to you?” Akira didn’t mean to raise his voice, but he was allowing his emotions to get the better of him. He needed to calm down or else he would make the situation worse. “I would never forgive myselfー”

“We’re all takin’ a risk, dude!” Ryuji grabbed Akira by the wrists and gripped them tightly. His brown eyes were filled with an unshakable determination that Akira could feel within the confines of his thumping chest. “Bein’ a Phantom Thief is dangerous, and we all knew that goin’ in.”

Akira sighed. “Ryuji…” He freed one of his hands from Ryuji’s grip and placed his hand on the side of Ryuji’s face. Ryuji leaned into the touch and Akira tried to memorize the sensations of the moment. The soft touch of Ryuji’s hand on his wrist. The chilly winter air pouring in from outside. The low lighting of the café attic.  _ Ryuji  _ sitting on his bed, pale skin flushed in the light, appearing like an angel meant to purge the darkness from the entire world _.  _ Ryuji’s light and warmth seemed to fill the entire room, and it enveloped Akira like a pair of protective wings. He never wanted to let this go. His words got caught in his throat as he struggled to find the way to tell Ryuji how he felt. “What kind of Phantom Thief would I be if I couldn’t protect the treasure most important to me?” Cheesy, yes, but it got the point across well enough.

“Pfft! Man, come on!” Ryuji laughed and pulled away from Akira’s grasp, a blush forming across his cheeks and spreading to his bare shoulders. “You can’t just say shit like that out of nowhere! I was tryin’ to be serious!”

“I know. You were doing amazing.” Akira chuckled and moved towards Ryuji, but his advancements were playfully swatted away by the bashful blonde. He huffed, but there was no malice behind it. “Come here.” Akira flopped himself onto his small mattress and opened his arms for Ryuji, who couldn’t continue resisting Akira’s charm for much longer and eventually fell into them. His forehead was gently pressed against Akira’s and their noses bumped together at the most inconvenient angles. Giggles were shared between them, until Akira smiled and whispered into Ryuji’s ear. “I love you, Ryuji.”

Ryuji flushed even more, and rather than responding he gently pressed his lips against Akira’s. They melted together, mouths and legs tangled in a mess of sheets, and time seemed to slow around them. Hands wandered everywhere from hair to hips, and they kissed like it was the end of the world. Akira was flying and falling all at once. Kissing Ryuji was safety and warmth and security, but it was also dangerous and frightening and thrilling all at once. No one else could make him feel the same way Ryuji could, and Akira realized he would do everything in his power to protect what they had together.  _ Together.  _ That sounded much better than trying to fight all the battles himself.

In between kisses, their day to day wear had gradually been discarded, leaving the boys huddled together under the blanket for warmth. Akira really had meant to close the window, but Ryuji had protested and it was too warm pressed up against him, so Akira opted out. Instead, he nuzzled his head in the crook of Ryuji’s neck and fell asleep filling his nose with the smell of home. 

He’d deal with the window in the morning.

 


End file.
